Tickets- Official Box Office

 The OFFICAL BLUESTONE TICKET BOX OFFICE

Get Tickets to The Bluestone and never miss your favorite artist again. Tickets From country and electronic to Indie Rock.  THE Bluestone brings quality entertainment to the stage every time. We’re working hard to bring you the best  concerts and special events in Columbus, Ohio. Keep an eye on our tickets and events calendar and check back often for concert updates. Just click on an event to purchase tickets

https://www.ticketmaster.com/the-bluestone-tickets-columbus/venue/41852

 

May
14
Tue
ACM Lifting Lives Benefit featuring: Easton Corbin
May 14 @ 4:15 pm

ACM Lifitng Lives Benefit Concert featuring singer of hit song, “All Over The Road”, Easton Corbin, will take place on Saturday, January 10th at The Bluestone.

 

Opening Artists:  Dew Baldridge  & Carter Winter

Doors for the Show open at 7pm

All Ages

Tickets $32 in advancePlain image

 BUY TICKETS

This year marks the 4th anniversary of the ACM Lifting Lives Club Benefit Concert, an annual event that supports ACM Lifting Lives mission to improve lives through the power of music. Since 2011, ACM Lifting Lives has partnered with Lifting Lives Board Member Ed Warm, owner of Joe’s Bar in Chicago, to coordinate benefit concerts with artists such as LeAnn Rimes, Gary Allan, and Lee Brice. Our partnership with Ed and Joe’s Bar successfully raised over $30,000 and spurred our 2014 “Club Benefit Show Run” in which clubs throughout the country replicated the Joe’s Bar model of the ACM Lifting Lives Benefit Concert. In just three months, these venues collectively raised more than $36,000 for ACM Lifting Lives.

VIP Opportunities Available: 

VIP TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.  

Admission tickets must be purchased separately.

  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of stage!
  • Includes six bottles of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP waitress
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Buckets (six bottles) available for purchase all night for $24

  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes six bottles of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP waitress
  • Private Bar Access
  • Buckets (six bottles) available for purchase all night for $24
  • May be Obstruction in View

*All VIP tables located in the loft area

 

Feb
11
Wed
TIG NOTARO: Boyish Girl Interrupted
Feb 11 @ 6:00 pm
TIG NOTARO Boyish Girl Interrupted

Doors open at 6:00pm
Tig Notaro was nominated for a Grammy Award for her sophomore comedy album LIVE. The album sold over 100,000 units in just 6 weeks, which is unheard of for comedy albums today. Louis CK is quoted as saying that it is one of the best stand-up performances he ever saw.During this album release, Tig was reviewed and profiled byThe New York Times, The New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, GQ Magazine, Rolling StoneandTime Tig Notaro


Magazineamongst many others.During this campaign Tig also closed a book deal with Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins. Tig’s project with Showtime, entitled, Knock Knock, It’s Tig Notaro, follows Tig as she performs in the actual homes, barns and cul-de-sacs of selected fans across the country. Tig also recently appeared in the Lake Bell feature, In a World, and is next slated to appear in the feature Walk of Shame opposite Elizabeth Banks, and Shreveport opposite Ryan Phillippe, both due out in 2014. Tig continues to host her week

ly podcast, Professor Blastoff, which has consistently been in the top 10 iTunes comedy podcast charts. Tig remains a favorite on both PRI’s,This American Life,and onConan.In previous years Tig has Guest Starred on shows such as ABC’s Suburgatory, NBC’sThe OfficeandCommunity, HBO’sThe Life and Times of Tim, wrote forThe 2011 Emmy’sand2010 MTV Movie Awards, and toured nationally and internationally at the most reputable comedy and music festivals.

 

BUY TICKETS

Feb
12
Thu
The Cadillac Three
Feb 12 @ 7:00 pm
The Cadillac Three

Cadillac Three will be performing live at The Bluestone on Thursday, February 12th.

Opening Artists: Clark Manson and Eldon Huff

Doors open at 7pm… (All Ages Event)

N

Tickets $15 in Advance and $17 day of show!

 Performing live at The Bluestone on 02|12|15 The Cadillac Three are a country music trio out of Nashville, TN consisting of members Jaren Johnston, Kelby Ray, and Neil Mason. Wanting to mix contemporary country music with classic southern rock, The Cadillac Three have managed to become stars in their own right with the huge single, “The South,” featuring guest vocals from Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, and Mike Eli. Johnston has also co-written songs for artists such as Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, and Jake Owen.


VIP TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.  

Admission tickets must be purchased separately.

  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of stage!
  • Includes six bottles of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP waitress
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Buckets (six bottles) available for purchase all night for $24
  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes six bottles of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP waitress
  • Private Bar Access
  • Buckets (six bottles) available for purchase all night for $24
  • May be Obstruction in View

*All VIP tables located in the loft area

Mar
7
Sat
Jason Dhir Presents: ANTHEM Mega-Party XII
Mar 7 @ 9:30 pm

At 9:30pm on March 7th 2015… the gates to the fitness industries Biggest and Baddest party will open again for the 12th time. Jason Dhir Presents… ANTHEM Mega-party XII. After being sold out every year since its conception, MEGA-Party has not only set the standard in after hours gatherings, but has raised the bar with audacious entertainment and extreme production and detailed originality… its not just a party, its an experience!

For more info visit: jasondhir.com or email jason@jasondhir.com

Gates Open at 9:30pm. 21 & up. Dress to Impress. Cannot guarantee entry after 11:30pm.

BUY TICKETS

ANTHEM MEGAParty Main Flyer V1 (2)

Apr
10
Fri
Brian Davis @ The Bluestone
Apr 10 @ 7:00 pm

BRIAN DAVIS returns to The Bluestone on Friday, April 10th, 2015.

Opening Artists: David Adam Byrnes and Ray Scott

Doors for the show open at 7PM ( All Ages Event )

Approved Image

 

 

VIP Opportunities Available: 

VIP TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.  

Admission tickets must be purchased separately.

  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of stage!
  • Includes six bottles of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP waitress
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Buckets (six bottles) available for purchase all night for $24
  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes six bottles of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP waitress
  • Private Bar Access
  • Buckets (six bottles) available for purchase all night for $24
  • May be Obstruction in View

*All VIP tables located in the loft area

Apr
30
Thu
The Charlie Daniels Band – The Bluestone
Apr 30 @ 7:00 pm

The Charlie Daniels Band will be performing live at The Bluestone on Thursday, April 30th, at 7pm.

Opener: Cliff Cody and Wyatt McCubbin will be opening the show!

Tickets are $40 Pre-Sale and $45 day of show.

 

Charlie-Daneils-columbus ohio

 

 CMA and Grammy award-winning country band, The Charlie Daniels Band, will perform live at The Bluestone on Thursday, April 30th, 2015.  Charlie Daniels Concert Tickets are available online at www.liveatthebluestone.com for just $40.00 in advance and $45.00 day of show.  Doors for the show will open at 7pm, this is an all ages event.

Charlie Daniels, born and raised in North Carolina, began playing the fiddle and guitar in several bands throughout his young adult life.  At the age of 21 he decided to pursue a professional career in music.  Daniels assembled his first rock and roll group named, The Jaguars.  There was very little success with The Jaguars but Daniels continued to write songs including,   One of “It Hurts Me”, which was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1963. In the late 60’s Daniels opted out of The Jaguars and after much practice, became one of the best fiddlers in Nashville, TN.  He would focus his fiddle playing on the current day hits, including a lot of top songs from Bob Dylan, his popularity soared.

Mid 70’s was the year for his new band, The Charlie Daniels Band.  After a run with the Southern Rock style, Charlie then decided to lean more towards a country music band, ultimately it was a career changing choice.  Shortly after this decision, the single, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”, was released.  It went straight to the number one spot and crossed over on to the pop charts at a number three spot.  This song was named the Country Music Association’s Single of the Year.  After this hit was released, their next album, Million Mile Reflections, became a multi-platinum success.

 

VIP Admission: VIP Tables do NOT include admission tickets to the show.  Tickets must be purchased separately.

**VIP Tables for this show are sold out**

  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of stage
  • Includes six bottles of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP waitress
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Buckets (six bottles) available for purchase all night for $24
  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes six bottles of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP waitress
  • Private Bar Access
  • Buckets (six bottles) available for purchase all night for $24

*All VIP tables located in the loft area

*Table purchases do NOT include admission into venue

Nov
10
Thu
LOCASH at The Bluestone @ The Bluestone
Nov 10 @ 7:00 pm

LOCASH will be performing live at The Bluestone on Thursday, November 10th, 2016

Opening Artist: TBA

Doors for the show will open at 7pm

Tickets: $20 in advance (day of show price will increase to $25 )

PURCHASE HERE

(Tickets on-sale Friday, October 7th, at 10am)

LOCASH_503x503


VIP OPPORTUNITY AVAILABLE

VIP TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.  

Admission tickets must be purchased separately.

  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of the stage!
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP Server
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP Server
  • Private Bar Access
  • May have an obstructed view

*All VIP tables located in the loft area

t’s an exciting time to be LOCASH these days. That might very well be one of the biggest understatements in Nashville these days. Already in their career, the duo of Preston Brust and Chris Lucas have enjoyed hit singles, sold-out concert appearances here and abroad, and have tasted the top of the chart as two of Nashville’s quickest-rising songwriters. But, to quote the old saying… You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.

Recently signing with Reviver Records, the duo is joining forces with some of the biggest names on the Country Music business landscape. Brust says they could feel the team’s energy from the first meeting. “We haven’t felt an energy like this since the day we began our journey. This feels like it has all come together –the right label head, the right promo team, it finally feels like we’ve got all of our ducks in a row for the first time in our lives. We’ve been out there doing the grass roots thing for so long, and to feel it all come together, is so encouraging.

Nov
11
Fri
Tucker Beathard at The Bluestone @ The Bluestone
Nov 11 @ 7:00 pm

Tucker Beathard will be performing live at The Bluestone on Friday, November 11th as part of his “ROCK ON COLLEGE” tour

Doors for the show will open at 7pm

Opening Artist: TBD

Tickets available for $15 in advance and will increase to $20 day of show

General Admission Tickets are standing room only!

PURCHASE TICKETS

Tickets on-sale Friday, September 2nd at 10am

 

TABLE SEATING

VIP TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.  

Admission tickets must be purchased separately.

  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of stage!
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP Server
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP Server
  • Private Bar Access
  • May be Obstruction in View

*All VIP tables located in the loft area

At just 20 years old, singer-songwriter Tucker Beathard already exudes the confidence and swagger of an established artist. It’s probably because music is in his blood. He started playing drums and guitar in a band with his brothers at 10 years old and had an early immersion into songwriting via his dad, two-time BMI “Songwriter of the Year” Casey Beathard. It was Tucker’s rebellious attitude as a teenager that inspired the lyrics for the chart-topping hit “Homeboy” recorded by Eric Church. Not long after making the decision to forgo a baseball scholarship to focus on music, Beathard signed a publishing deal with Big Machine Music and a recording contract with DOT Records. Now he is beginning to carve a path for his own unique and unapologetic sound with lyrics like “Hell no I don’t mind turning heads; Hell yeah I’ll get by living on the edge; Our point of views may never meet; I don’t wanna be you, yeah I know me.” Beathard is working on his debut album and is already booked for shows this summer with superstars Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban.

Tucker Beathard Live November 10th 2016

Tucker Beathard Live November 10th 2016

Feb
17
Fri
Russell Dickerson Live February 17th @ The Bluestone
Feb 17 @ 7:00 pm

Russell Dickerson will be performing live at The Bluestone on Friday, February 17th, 2017

Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Opening artist: TBA
Tickets are $15
Tickets on-sale Friday, November 4th at 10am

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

RDtourpromo

TABLE SEATING

VIP TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.  

Admission tickets must be purchased separately.

  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of stage!
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP Server
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  • VIP Server
  • Private Bar Access
  • May be Obstruction in View

*All VIP tables located in the loft area

Sincere, endearing, energetic, and always smiling: All words that have been used to describe emerging country music star, Russell Dickerson, by his fans and peers alike. His infectiouspersonality radiates in everything he does, whether he’s writing a song, singing in the studio, or meeting fans. He’s constantlymaking people laugh, and makes new friends everywhere he goes. He asserts, “I just love life. Every day is a great day!” 

Nov
16
Thu
Josh Abbott Band LIVE @ The Bluestone
Nov 16 @ 7:00 pm

Josh Abbott Band

live at

 The Bluestone Thursday, November 16th

as part of their

“Until my Voice Runs Out tour”

Doors for the show will open at 7pm

Opening Artist: TBD

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of show

PURCHASE HERE

JAB_503x_1

RESERVED LOFT TABLE SEATING

RESERVED TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.  
Admission tickets must be purchased separately
The loft is located on the second level of The Bluestone
  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of stage!
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  • Server
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  •  Server
  • Private Bar Access
  • May be Obstruction in View

*All Reserved tables located in the loft area

ALL SALES ARE FINAL

When Josh Abbott Band recorded “Ghosts” for its fourth album, Front Row Seat, Abbott expected to redo the vocals. The final chorus had some technical imperfections, and he figured he could improve on the performance once his heart settled down. Producer Dwight Baker, one-half of the Austinbased duo The Wind and The Wave, wouldn’t let Abbott retouch it.

“I was actually crying my eyes out during that last chorus, and that’s why there’s a couple of notes in the beginning of that section that don’t really explode like normal,” Abbott says. “Dwight was like, ‘We’re keeping that. That’s real.’”

Real is the operative word for Front Row Seat, a 16-track song cycle that represents the most ambitious and emotionally challenging project yet for JAB, a highly melodic six-piece ensemble that’s managed to keep a foot in both the Texas music scene and the national country world. The band won four times during the inaugural Texas Regional Radio Awards behind an upbeat brand of country that still leans on classic instrumentation – particularly banjo and fiddle – to effect a raucous, roof-raising attitude.

The band has lobbed three singles onto the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart – including “Oh, Tonight,” the first charted track to feature Grammy-winning Kacey Musgraves – and nabbed a Top 10 album with the 2012 release Small Town Family Dreams and reached No. 12 with the 2014 EP Tuesday Night.

But Front Row Seat steps beyond the band’s honky-tonk inclinations for a more personal journey as the album traverses the emotional course of Abbott’s first marriage and subsequent divorce. It was not his original intention to depict his private life in a public way, but as he wrote the songs for Front Row Seat, beginning before the split actually occurred, he naturally mined his emotional life for a set of songs that were profoundly honest and revealing. It was only as they began recording the material at Baker’s Matchbox Studios outside of Austin, that they realized they had the germ of a tangible plot.

“We started looking at the music we’d done and had a whole bunch of other songs that we really loved and we were like, ‘Man, we could put this together and make a really neat story out of it,” fiddler Preston Wait recalls. “Especially with the song ‘Front Row Seat,’ we basically just made it kind of like you’re watching a movie and it’s your front row seat to this life.”

Owing to that silver-screen character, JAB employed screenwriting technique by assembling the project with the five elements of plot structure: the exposition, or beginning; an inciting incident; the climax; a falling action (in this case, a breakup); and the resolution.

The story begins with “While I’m Young,” in which a college-aged Abbott lives a typically carefree existence, spending much of his discretionary income in bars and living for the moment, an ideal that’s captured authoritatively in the anthemic “Live It While You Got It.” As the album progresses, he meets a woman who commands his attention for more than one evening, finding himself by track 7, “Crazy Things,” mulling what it is that would make a woman who’s dang-near perfect fall for someone so flawed.

By the time the album concludes, his once-ideal relationship has turned sour, and the two are no longer one. The fracture becomes apparent through the resignation of “Born To Break Your Heart,” and he discovers in “Ghosts” that all the memories that once lived with such passion and revelry continue to haunt his memory, taunting him with whispers of a past he can never reclaim. As Front Row Seat closes with “Anonymity,” Abbott sings a spare dirge with acoustic guitar and fiddle, fantasizing that he could return to the start of the relationship and live it out right.

Nov
17
Fri
David Nail LIVE Nov. 17 @ The Bluestone
Nov 17 @ 7:00 pm

 DAVID NAIL will be performing LIVE at The Bluestone

on Friday, November 17th, 2017

Doors for the show will open at 7pm

Opening Artist: Jimmie Allen

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of show

Tickets will go on-sale Friday, August 18th at 10am

PURCHASE HERE

DNail17_503x-2

 

RESERVED LOFT TABLE SEATING

RESERVED TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.  

Admission tickets must be purchased separately.

  • Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Prime view of stage!
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  • Server
  • Exclusive Private Bar access
  • Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
  • Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
  •  Server
  • Private Bar Access
  • May be Obstruction in View

*All Reserved tables located in the loft area

ALL SALES ARE FINAL

ABOUT

During the making of his fourth MCA Nashville album, David Nail underwent a transformation – and so did his music. Fighter is the most vulnerable, personal record the Missouri native has ever made, and it signals the beginning of a new phase in his career.”

“Six months ago, people would ask me about the record and I would jokingly say ‘It’s my love-making record,’” Nail explains. “But what it meant to me then and what it means to me now are completely different. … Having been a father for about five months, it definitely changes the dynamic of things.”

Following the birth of he and wife Catherine’s long-hoped-for children (twins born in December 2015), the singer-songwriter found his world turned upside down. The mark he wanted to leave and things he wanted to say had changed, and despite an early version of Fighter being already finished, he decided to record four new songs, completely changing the project’s tone.

In short, Nail decided to get real in a way he never would have allowed himself before. Already known for powerful, emotionally-charged vocals, he took the same approach to choosing Fighter’s 11 tracks (seven of which were written or co-written by Nail himself), celebrating life’s victories but also exposing the knock-downs he’s endured – and it wasn’t always flattering.

“[I was] like, ‘Am I ready to sing this? Am I ready to tell this story?” Nail says. “[But] they come from a genuine place that you can kind of say, ‘Okay, I’ve said that. I’m at peace with that.’ I think that’s what this record is.”

Writing and singing in courageous personal detail, Nail confronted some of his deepest troubles, revealing the clarity he’s achieved about his hometown, the true struggle depression caused in his marriage, the answered-prayer of his children’s birth and the things he never told his own father.

Meanwhile, producer Frank Liddell (who also guided Nail’s first three albums, I’m About to Come Alive, The Sound of a Million Dreams and I’m a Fire) made sure Fighter’s musical tone was just as authentic, backing Nail’s volcanic vocals with a melting pot of Mississippi-delta sounds — a mix of classic-country balladry and sweaty Memphis soul, with touches of in-the-moment modernity sprinkled throughout.

“I grew up listening to all this music that my father listened to,” says Nail. “A lot of it was classic, huge songs and artists from the ‘60s and ‘70s – and even the ‘80s – so I think there’s always part of me that just falls toward that type of sound, rather than fighting it and trying to say ‘Whoa! No-no-no, we need to stay 2016.”

Big-name collaborations abound, with Nail inviting Vince Gill, Brothers Osborne, Lori McKenna and Logan Brill to help tell his story, as well as Bear and Bo Rinehart of NEEDTOBREATE.

“When I’m making a record I selfishly want to push my buttons so I try to approach it as my swan song, it could be the last piece of music I make. I want to fulfill some life goals in the process and one of my biggest influences in the word is Vince Gill so I’m thankful he said yes”

Brothers Osborne kick the project off in star-crossed revelry on “Good at Tonight,” McKenna joins “Home” to quietly uncover Nail’s love/hate relationship with his hometown, Gill adds stunning harmony vocals to the country-soul “I Won’t Let You Go” – a promise to David’s wife Catherine – and the Rineharts help close the album in tender admiration with “Old Man’s Symphony,” an overdue thank-you note to Nail’s dad.

Along the way, he toasts to the passion of youth in the upbeat hit “Night’s On Fire,” pledges romantic relief in the raw Chris Stapleton co-write “Ease Your Pain,” delivers a desperate double entendre in the indie-rocking “Lie With Me” and crafts a loving, rock-a-bye origin story for his new family in “Babies” – an instant classic.

Then there’s the project’s title track, “Fighter,” a heartfelt ‘80s-country throwback ripped from Nail’s real life that holds his wife up as an unshakable supporter – even when he was at his worst.

“’Fighter’ is about as honest as I’ve ever been in a song,” Nail admits. “I mean, when you’re quoting your wife saying things that are not pleasant [about you], you know it was our story. … But it also, I think, tells the story of me.”

Nail and Catherine have had to fight their whole lives, he explains – for his career, for their marriage, to battle back inner demons and to conceive their beautiful kids – but their ultimate success in those battles has led them to a better place. And it also gave the album a mission.

Fighter is more than a bookmark in Nail’s life and career – it’s a period on the final sentence of a difficult chapter. Penned during dark times that have given way to a new sunrise, these are some of the most meaningful and personal songs he’s ever recorded. And now that they exist for all to hear, he can finally move on.

“I feel like I’ve told the main aspects of my career, and my life, up to this point,” he explains. “So I really think whatever we do in the future, we’ll be able to start just completely fresh. It’ll be a new story, a new part of my life.”

-Chris Parton

Nov
17
Sat
Midland LIVE November, 17th @ The Bluestone
Nov 17 @ 7:00 pm

Midland LIVE at The Bluestone on Saturday, November 17, 2018!

*Opening Artist: Desure

*Doors for the show will open at 7PM

*Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of show

Ticket On-Sale July 13th, 2018 at 10AM

tickets The Bluestone - Columbus Ohio

 

 

 

Midland Plain Image

With all the chest-thumping going on in Nashville today, where bluster and swagger have replaced heart and soul, you half expect some of country music’s male stars to be sporting bruises. Which is what makes Midland, a trio of friends based in Dripping Springs, Texas, so undeniably refreshing. Made up of singer Mark Wystrach, lead guitarist Jess Carson and bass player Cameron Duddy, Midland is the embodiment of Seventies California country, all smooth Eagles harmonies and heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics. Their songs are intoxicating, sung with the twang of George Strait.

And it’s impossible to resist.

Now, after endearing themselves to fans with the hit radio single “Drinkin’ Problem” and a self-titled EP, Midland unveil their full-length debut, On the Rocks (Big Machine Records).

A collection of 13 tracks all written or co-written by Midland – the guys took their name from a Dwight Yoakam song – On the Rocks excels at setting a mood, transporting the listener to another place and time. It’s an album made for wide-open skies, endless deserts and wondering where the road is going to take you next.

“Drinkin’ Problem,” written with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, who produced the album with Dann Huff, reclaims the drinking song for classic country music, making it less about an endless party and more about self-medicating. “They call it a problem, I call it a solution / just sitting here with all my grand illusions,” sings Wystrach, evoking the best booze ballads of both Gary Stewart and Merle Haggard, two of the trio’s chief influences.

“Make a Little,” a rollicking ditty, is more optimistic, soaring with the brotherly harmonies of Wystrach, Duddy and Carson and a timely message: “There’s just not enough love in the world.” The rapid-fire lyrics embody the clever wordplay that is unique to country music – “we should make a little, generate a little / maybe even make the world a better place a little” – and also nod to Alabama, another country band that helped spark a revolution in the genre.

Midland hearken back to a time when an artist’s personal style – colorful suits, tailored denim and well-worn hats – dovetailed with the music. And they tip their hats to other groundbreaking artists throughout On the Rocks.

The kick-back and get-high ode “Altitude Adjustment” name-checks John Denver, the majestic “Nothin’ New Under the Neon” sounds like vintage Eddie Rabbit, and the glorious “At Least You Cried” channels Dwight Yoakam. By album’s end, the band 2 returns to the Eagles, recalling their famous intro to “Seven Bridges Road,” with the closing “Somewhere on the Wind.”

“On the Rocks is a confluence of our musical tastes and our reverence for classic country,” says Duddy, whose wife, photographer Harper Smith, shoots all of the group’s stylish photos.

“This record is truly a nod to the time period we are influenced by,” says Carson, a Pacific Northwest native, “and is an effort to bring that sound and that pageantry back to the forefront.”

“We write with a very visual storytelling approach. We paint that big picture and go to that place,” says Wystrach. “Where is this story going? Let’s paint it.”

“Electric Rodeo,” with its plaintive piano, sweeping strings and high-in-the-saddle chorus, is a prime example of the “picture” the band talks about creating. And “Check Cashin’ Country,” a solo composition by Carson, stands as the band’s true-life road diary: the tale of a country-rock band trying to find time to sleep as they hustle from gig to gig, barely making enough money to put gas in the tank. It’s the country equivalent of Seger’s “On the Road.”

Midland first came together at Duddy’s wedding in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the three members ended up jamming onstage at the rehearsal dinner.

“It was this serendipitous chain of events, and it was the best week ever,” says Wystrach, who, despite his hippie persona, was actually raised on an Arizona cattle ranch. “By the end, we knew the three of us had amazing chemistry.”

“Midland isn’t manufactured,” says Duddy, born in California. “We are three real friends who stumbled upon making music together.”

Whether they intended it or not, Midland are filling a void in country, with songs that run the gamut from lush Urban Cowboy anthems to loose campfire sing-alongs. Putting their own spin on a classic sound, they’re making something old relevant again.

“We are a band,” says Carson, declaratively. “That’s a big part of the spirit of what we do, that group experience and camaraderie.”

Says Wystrach, “We’ve poured our hearts and souls into writing and making these songs and are extremely proud of what we’ve been able to create.”

With On the Rocks, Midland have captured a sound decades in the making that is just right for today.